“It’s time for the ethanol apologists to face the facts: The ethanol and biofuels mandates that have been foisted on American taxpayers are not just fiscal insanity, they are immoral. And over the coming months and years, the people in the developing world will pay a heavy price for Congress’s scandalous approach to food and energy policy.”

EXCERPT: “It turns out the production of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel is likely to cause far more environmental damage than it prevents, not to mention triggering widespread famine and eating up more rainforest and grassland than beef production ever could.The production and consumption of biofuels releases far more carbon emissions than are prevented when ordinary gasoline and diesel are burned without first being mixed with corn or sugar cane derivatives.”

“Even the world’s first tentative steps towards increasing biofuel production has caused a doubling of annual deforestation rates in the Amazon.According to Wetlands International, Indonesia has razed so much wilderness to grow palm oil trees for biodiesel that it has moved from the world’s 21st-biggest greenhouse gas emitter to third in just the past three years. Only China and the United States — in that order — generate more carbon emissions.With its rapid conversion of rainforest to cane production for fuel, Brazil has slipped into fourth place.”

“Turns out the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by chopping down rainforests and switching grassland to corn, cane, soybean or palm oil production far exceeds that released by burning oil pumped from the ground or extracted from oilsands. The original environmental studies advocating biofuels as a way of curbing greenhouse emissions and cleaning the air hadn’t taken this into consideration.Corn-based biofuels are particularly ineffective. After the ethanol is made, the stocks must be destroyed, thereby releasing all the carbon they took up during their growth.”

“Then there is the biofuel revolution’s impact on world food supplies.”

EXCERPT: “The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to biofuels as a response to global warming. The researchers said that past studies showing the benefits of ethanol in combating climate change have not taken into account almost certain changes in land use worldwide if ethanol from corn — and in the future from other feedstocks such as switchgrass — become a prized commodity. “Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming,” concludes the study published in Science magazine.”

EXCERPT: “Recent pasta protests in Italy, tortilla rallies in Mexico and onion demonstrations in India are just the start of the social instability to come unless there is a fundamental shift to boost production of staple foods”